Every four years we have the opportunity as a country to talk about big issues and make decisions about the leadership of our country. In those conversations, regardless of the side, “think of the children” rhetoric is often invoked, enabling people to justify their beliefs and their choices as being for the benefit of others.

Missing from that conversation, though, are the actual voices of the adolescents those decisions will impact. And that is problematic, because the world that we will live in 20 years from now will be the result of what is happening to adolescents today – particularly girls.

We know that middle school is a difficult time for everyone, particularly for girls. In fact, a girl’s confidence peaks at age nine and from there it plummets. She would rather not try than fail, and she struggles to find the balance between being kind and standing up for herself. It becomes difficult for her to find her voice and share her ideas. And that becomes a behavior that can last into adulthood.

In her concession speech today, Hillary Clinton said:

to all the little girls out there who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable, and powerful, and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams.

— Hillary Clinton

If we believe this to be true, we have to do everything in our power to equip girls to feel confident in their voices and their ideas. Girls With Ideas is working to do just that.

If you want to join us in our movement to help girls with ideas become women with vision here are three things you can do right now:

Share our free leadership quiz with the young girl in your life to provide her with a language to talk about her own leadership strengths.

Buy our curriculum and get it to a group of girls. It’s accessible, adaptable and fits well into after school programs, youth groups, community organizations, camps and more. And we’ll help you figure out how it can work for your setting.

Visit our Get Involved page to see how you can join forces with Girls With Ideas and be an Idea Champion for all the girls out there!